White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Tuesday praised a bipartisan Senate effort to jump-start congressional consideration of a new bill authorizing the use of U.S. military force against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and said he hopes other senators will “follow-up in a similar way.”
Two members of the Foreign Relations Committee, Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., introduced a new bill Monday in an effort to renew debate on the war powers issue, which had stalled two months ago as the Senate became distracted with debating the Obama administration’s efforts to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran.
“I do think this language that was put forward by Sen. Kaine and Sen. Flake is an indication that at least some members of Congress are willing to step up and fulfill their constitutional responsibility to be heard on this matter,” Earnest told reporters. “I think Sen. Kaine and Sen. Flake deserve some credit for that.”
Earnest made the comments before the Secret Service evacuated the White House briefing room in response to an apparent bomb threat, but roughly 30 minutes later he reconvened the briefing and continued with business as usual.
The bipartisan Senate duo offered the measure Monday as an amendment to a State Department bill under consideration this week.
Earlier this year, President Obama sent Congress a formal request to proceed with military airstrikes and troop training, after many lawmakers had criticized the administration for moving forward in its fight against the Islamic State without seeking approval from the legislative branch.
That initial White House draft language would have restricted the authorization of military force against the Islamic State to three years and repealed the 2002 language authorizing action in the Iraq war.
It also left in place the 2001 AUMF provisions, but jettisoned the language allowing “enduring offensive ground combat operations.”
Republicans argued the language was too limiting while Democrats complained that it was too loose, leading to a stalemate on Capitol Hill.
The Kaine-Flake bill provides a completely new authority focused on fighting the Islamic State. It also offers nuanced, language allowing targeted U.S. troop involvement, specifically saying that the “use of significant U.S. ground troops in combat” would be prohibited unless U.S. citizens faced an imminent threat.
Earnest acknowledged that the Kaine-Flake language includes “some tweaks” to the White House draft bill, but appeared open to embracing the measure all the same.
“We were also candid about the fact from day one that our legislative language was intended to be a starting point for negotiations so it appears that Sen. Kaine and Sen. Flake have acted consistent with the spirit of that legislative proposal,” he said.
“We’re hopeful that other members of Congress with follow through in a similar way,” he added.
